Strip tilling for fodder beet, maize and swedes

We do strip tilling all across Canterbury.

It’s a cheaper, more environmentally sound way to plant and manage fodder beet, maize, and swedes. Because you till your ground in long thin rows rather than tilling everything in the paddock.

  • Tilling in strips means cultivation occurs to only 30% of the paddock, leaving 70% uncultivated.
  • We use a custom set of rippers that pre-rip 200mm to 400mm deep depending on your preference. This is to get deep tap root growth and aerate the soil.
  • Our tiller puts your seed through a power harrow tunnel. Fertiliser is mixed into the strip and then planted by a precision planter.

When we strip till the number of cultivation passes is reduced to one. Our tiller also leaves a 250mm row in between the plant lines that hasn’t been cultivated.

Benefits of this are:

  • reduced moisture loss
  • less weed germination
  • improved micro-climate for plant establishment
  • reduced wind damage
  • less pugging when feeding off.

We use a Falco Rotor Tiller that’s 3 meters wide and has plant row spacing of 500mm.

Next year we are looking at putting on a pre-emerge sprayer on the planter.

We’ll give you quality tilling, years of experience, speed and excellent prices.